Ransom
by ineresting-thot
Summary: Based on movieverse and my own little bits and pieces.rnAbe is happy and enjoying his new life at the BPRD since he was found in the hospital, but what happens if the people who had him before want him back? R&R please!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, they are the result of the brilliance of Whats-his-name who wrote hellboy the comic books and the-other-whats-his-name for making the movie. I just like to play with them, that's all grin Enjoy! Or don't, I don't really care...

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Chapter 1

The sunlight filtered through clear blue-green water, sending patterns of light dancing across Abe's body. He smiled as he drifted languidly through the expanse of near-empty water, and watching a school of fish meander along, the light reflecting off their prismatic scales. Abe grinned mischievously as he took a deep breath, and took off as fast as he could right through the school, and laughed over his shoulder as the fish scattered in all directions. He continued on zig-zagging and somersaulting like a bat out of hell, revelling in the sheer exhilaration of the immense space that was around him. After a few minutes he began to slow down, tiring himself with the helter-skelter pace, his gills going a mile a minute trying to catch his breath.

As he drifted on a feeling of ominous foreboding came over him. Slowly he noticed the water seemed to become more resistant then before, and darker. As he drifted on his sense of the surrounding lake began to change. The carefree sense of freedom seemed to be slipping away to be replaced by a feeling of vulnerability. He suddenly became aware of the fact that the empty expanse offered no place to hide. Abe also noticed that though he'd been drifting slowly for a few minutes, he didn't seem to be able to catch his breath. In fact, he seemed to be having a harder and harder time breathing at all. Abe felt a moments panic as he gasped for breath, unable to find any respite in the water entering his lungs. He noticed the clearness of the water had slowly vanished, being replaced by a thick ooze that did nothing for his oxygen-starved body. He desperately swam to the surface. Dry Air would be better then this sludge that only a moment ago seemed clean and beautiful. What had happened to his beautiful lake, he wondered as he strove for the surface, to his beautiful freedom?

Then a thought broke through his panicked mind, giving his something to grasp on to, A Dream! It must be a dream! Wake UP Abe! He thought to himself. Dammit, Wake UP!

Still desperately struggling for the surface, his hand finally broke through and he felt a moments hope. This was his dream right? So if he thought air would save him, then it would, RIGHT? The edges of his vision had started to fade as his head broke through the surface of the water. He expelled the poisoned sludge from his lungs and took a deep breath of fresh, clean air. His heart and breathing calmed down as he felt his panic lessen. He was free again, at least for a little while. The crisis was past, the nightmare was beaten, now he just had to wake up, and maybe the spinning in his head would go away. In all this life, he couldn't ever remember having such a realistic and convincing dream, it was freaking him out.

He slowed his breathing and focussed his mind on one goal. 'Wake up.' He said, out loud this time, 'Wake UP!'

Confused at the lack of his normal control, he opened his eyes he'd screwed up in concentration, just as a pair of hands grabbed him from behind, nearly strangling him and forcing him back under the water. He gasped in surprise and inhaled a lung-full of the tainted water, and instantly felt his dizziness increase ten-fold. He struggled and twisted against the fists in white rubber gloves that seemed to have a death grip on him, but he could find no strength in his limbs. He managed to twist around a bit, and sink his teeth into the arm holding him firm. The hands let go, pulling back in shock, and Abe heard a muffled curse come from his attacker above the water. He swam back a few paces, and resurfaced, coughing the water from his lungs. His head absolutely swam from the lack of oxygen and the effects of the tainted water. Abe drifted backwards as he tried to catch his breath, and felt back come up against something solid. He turned around in surprise to see the glass window looking out into the library of the B.P.R.D.

"What the hell is going on! Wake up!" Abe said again, once more trying to force himself to consciousness. This was all too weird, and coming from a fish-man, that was saying something.

"Ah, but you are awake fish-boy." Replied the man responsible for his earlier attack with an evil laugh. "So do us a favour and come over here so we can grab you and get out of here." He grinned and continued, "You'll only make things worse for yourself by flapping around like a drowned fish!" The man laughed at his own pathetic attempt at wit.

Even through the spinning of his head Abe could here the lack of intellegence in the man's voice. Though even if he was a complete dolt, he was still a bit of a problem. He was standing on the platform in front of the only entrance/exit to Abe's living quarters. If he wanted to get out and sound the alarm, he'd have to get past him first, which normally wouldn't have been much of a problem, but right now Abe was having trouble even staying afloat. The murky water that now filled his tank seemed to suck at his already tired limbs.

How was he to get out of this mess? He thought to himself. What wouldn't he give to have Hellboy stroll in right then, announcing his inability to sleep. Fat chance of that though, he'd better come up with something else.

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So...whadja think? If ya liked it, please tell me! If ya hated it.. you can tell me why, but please don't just tell me you hated it cause it sucked, ok? Cool, I'd like to get like... 5 reviews or so before I post the next bit up, so if you want more, review!

Thanks!


	2. Ransom Chapter 2

Wow! Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed! I appreciate your feedback soooo much!

Now to some specific questions and comments,

Bayleef14, thanks for telling me about the anonymus (erg, spelling, I know) review block, I didn't even know there was one! It's all fixed now though!

Diamond Unicorn, Yes I am going to finish the other story I've started, The begining, but I was having some issues with where I was going to take it when I sorta got the idea for this one, so I started this one because it just seemed to work. To be absolutely honest, the begining was just supposed to be one of those once off little snap shots, not actually a story to continue, but I've got some ideas for it, so have no fear!

And again to everybody else who reviewed, Thanks so much! I was so excited when I was reading all the reviews! I didn't expect anything like such a positive response! Thank you so much!

Anyway, enough bibble babble, on the the next bit of the story!

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Chapter 2.

As Abe treaded water, floundering a bit and fighting back the encroaching dizziness, he decided he'd better do something, and do it now, or he wouldn't be able to anything at all. Chances were that his situation wasn't going to get any better with him just sitting there.

He took a deep breath and ducked under the water, swimming toward the man blocking his exit. Hopefully he could gain a little bit of surprise that way; after all, the water was barely translucent. The adrenalin pumping through his body lent him the energy to tear through the semi-jello water, straight at the probably armed man. Possibly not the best plan, Abe thought to himself, but it's all he had at the moment.

Abe burst out of the water, sending blobs of it flying in every direction, and hurly straight towards the man who'd put his arms over his head, and gave a rather girlish scream of surprise as Abe bowled him over, sending them both tumbling. As they rolled head over heels in a rather cartoonish fashion, the man managed to disentangle himself and get his hands to his belt, or more specifically, his weapon.

As they completely separated from each other, Abe crouching in a defensive position, and the man, his name tag announcing him Frank, was standing between him and the stairs, the only way out. He held a taser in front of him menacingly.

"Well that wasn't very nice," Frank said, crouching down slightly to lower his center of gravity. "You've got no where to go, except through me, and now I'm not going to make it easy for you." He grinned menacingly and triggered the stun gun, the electricity sparking and snapping.

Abe sighed; nothing was ever simple for the unfortunate amphibian. "As if you were going to make it easy for me to begin with," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head in an attempt to clear the fog. His breathing hadn't really eased either, he was still finding breathing difficult, though he tried to concentrate on the task at hand.

Abe slowly made his way forward, never taking his eyes off of Frank or his weapon. He moved along the wall, it protected him from anything coming up behind, though it also limited his maneuvering space. As he closed the gap between himself and his attacker, he lunged forward, hands snatching towards Frank's wrist, shoulder pounding into his chest, knocking them both off balance. Again they both fell, as was Abe's plan, toward the exit. Unfortunately Abe had misjudged the distance between Frank and the stairs leading from the top of the giant aquarium to the main floor. He was unable to stop their momentum and they again tumbled through the air, this time down the flight of stairs, arms and legs flying around wildly as each battled for a better position. As they bounced off the steps, Frank managed to grab a hold of Abe's neck, and bashed his already spinning head into one of the steps, though at the same time Abe managed a well aimed kick to Frank's groin, causing him to curl up into the fetal position, giving Abe a moment to catch his breath and clear his head.

Their rather ungainly decent suddenly halted, they'd reached the floor. Abe stood up and bolted to the door, his legs protesting and his head spinning. He reached it, leaned heavily on the wall, and managed to pull it open. As he started to run from the room, he felt a hand on his ankle.

"Not so fast there, fishboy," Frank growled, bringing his weapon to bare.

"That's Mr. Fish-boy to you, Franky," Abe growled back, frankly become very irritable. He managed to pull himself, and Frank's arm attached to his leg out through the door, pivoted around, and slammed the door with all his might, catching Frank's arm in it. As the door connected Abe heard a rather satisfying crack, and curse from Frank on the other side of the door as he quickly pulled his damaged limb towards himself. The door clicked shut, and Abe leaned heavily on it, not only to keep Frank on the other side, but also to support himself.

As he turned to survey the library and try to work out what he would do next, Abe noticed the two other men. Bob and Larry read their nametags. He paused to consider the curiousness of the situation as he tried to come up with an idea of how to remedy his rather complicated situation. Frank was down for the moment, though Abe doubted he would stay that way, and the other two seemed to be rather nervously edging towards the door. He needed help and medical attention, obviously, how could he attract such attention to himself, without being able to leave the room?

He scanned the room, looking for some inspiration, and his eyes again came to light on Bob and Larry. They were muttering to themselves, Larry looking very unsure and worried and was shaking his head slowly while Bob was gesturing to the door and talking insistently in low murmurs.

"...Not a good idea....on!" Muttered Bob, "... like...just go!", he finished, with a very emphatic gesture to the door.

Larry still looked doubtful, but finally shrugged. He reached into his coat, and Abe felt a moments panic. He pulled out an envelope, and Abe's panic subsided, it wasn't a gun. He dropped the envelope, than he and Bob fled the scene, leaving Abe with a little less to worry about.

Thump!

Frank was up again, trying to free himself from confines.

Thump!

Wait, was that Frank, or just the pounding in his head? It was growing stronger, and his legs seemed to be having greater difficulty in keeping him upright. A plan, he needed a plan.

As Frank gave an especially strong thump, Abe's eyes fell on the answer to his situation. The Fire Alarm! He'd be putting a lot of trust in Hellboy, that he'd try to save Abe in case of a fire, but his situation wasn't improving, it was all he had to work with.

As Frank thumped again, nearly knocking Abe over, he used the momentum and bolted for the fire alarm. The door sprung open very unexpectedly for Frank, and he burst out of the room completely off balance as Abe lurched towards his goal. Frank caught himself on a nearby bookshelf and kept himself from falling, though unfortunately for him, he did so with his wounded arm. He cried out in pain as he crumpled to the floor. He lay there for a few seconds, letting the pain receded, and as he started to rise, breathing heavily, his eyes landed on his tazer. He grabbed the weapon stood, and started towards Abe who was mere meters from his goal, leaning heavily on a desk gasping for breath.

Abe drew a deep breath and lurched towards his goal, using the last of his adrenalin-lent energy to close the distance. He reached out, and grasped the lever, and elation spread through him as his knees finally gave out, the weight of his body helping him find the little strength needed to pull the lever.

As the alarm sounded and Abe slid to the floor, Frank was there, looming over his weakened body, his tazer held in one hand, and his other held protectively to his body.

Frank gave a menacing laugh, "Don't think you've won this," he grinned, "This is far from over!" He laughed again as he upped the power of his weapon and jabbed it into the side of Abe's neck sending bolts of electricity snapping and jerking into the already downed man's body. As his muscles spasmed and jerked from the massive electric shock, he heard Frank laugh again and bolt for the door, making his escape.

Abe continued to struggle for every breath and straw of consciousness, though both were becoming harder and harder to attain, and his mind seemed to wander away from his pain wracked body. Who wears a nametag while attempting murder or kidnap, he mused to himself, I wonder if Hellboy will come for me?

"Abe!" Hellboy yelled as he crashed through the door as if on cue, "Let's go! Liz and Father have already sta... ah crap!" He exclaimed as he saw Abe's prone form lying in a heap under the fire alarm in the corner.

Hellboy ran to his fallen friends side and carefully lifted him from the floor in a surprisingly gentle embrace. Abe's eyes fluttered open and he smiled briefly. His trust had not been misplaced.

"Thanks....for coming.." he managed between gasps, "Can't..... breath!" He finished, his eyes closing and heap lolling back, the four words uttered having exhausted him.

"I can see that man," Hellboy replied, half grinning trying to cover his distress at finding his comrade in such a state.

He stood up carefully, cradling Abe's body in his arm, and started for the door, though as he turned he noticed the soft blue glowing light of the room had turned to a dark purple, almost black colour. He knew instantly that it was the source of Abe's breathing difficulties, and also knew there was nothing he could do about it. He turned and ran out the door down the corridor in the direction Dr. Broom had taken moments before. As he ran he noted how Abe now felt cold and clammy in his arms, much more so then was normal for the amphibious being. As he rounded a corner he saw his father's retreating back.

"Father!" Hellboy yelled, picking up his pace, though being careful not to jar his charge. "Father, there's no fire! Abe needs help!"

Dr. Broom spun around at the desperate note in his sons voice "He's barely breathing!", Hellboy informed the professor as they neared.

Indeed Abraham's gasps had become more laboured and painful sounding, almost convulsive. Dr. Broom ran towards the oncoming pair as fast as his limp would allow him, a knot of fear forming in his stomach as he took in the full state of the unconscious merman.

"Quickly! Bring him to the infirmary," The professor ordered, feeling an immense sense of urgency, "And tell me what the bloody hell is going on!"


	3. Ransom Chapter 3

Hey Everybody,

Thank you so much for all the positive feedback, and the negative, it's all good! :D I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update this story, I hope it was worth the wait, and I hope that the wait won't be as long next time, but I make no promises! I will try though, I can promise you that. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing, and I would love to continue to hear what you think.

Thanks very much!

Jewelz

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The light of the library had returned to the usual golden glow after Abe's tank had been cleaned, the tainted water stored in toxic waste barrels until the scientists could work out exactly what had been done to it. Dr. Broom sat at his desk next to the open fire, stewing over the letter that'd been found after the attack on Abe. It had been tossed negligently on the floor a few feet from the door, left to be found by whomever and delivered to Dr. Broom himself. That had been several hours before. 

The chaos caused by the attempted kidnapping had finally subsided with Abe's vitals being stabilized and his breathing returning to normal, though he still didn't return to consciousness. The water in his lungs seemed to have left some kind of residue that prevented Abe's lungs from absorbing the oxygen from the water they drew in, and from drawing it in at all. They had managed to successfully create an antidote to that particular problem, resulting in the unconscious man coughing up some very unpleasant looking black substances, and his breathing returning to normal. There was evidence however, that suggested that something in the substance had entered Abe's blood stream and was now causing more trouble. Dr. Broom had every medical expert working on the problem, running scans and tests and experiments and whatever else that would yield some insight into what was happening inside Abe's body. Other then some second-degree burns on his torso and under his arm, there wasn't much other physical damage that they were aware of. His brain activity, however, seemed to indicate he was in a coma of some kind, though he was mildly responsive to pain and other stimuli. Everything else seemed to be returning to normal as well, but he still didn't wake up.

After Abe was safely in the hands of medical experts, Dr. Broom and Hellboy went back down to the scene of the crime, to help gather any information that could be helpful in solving this peculiar mystery. Samples of the contaminated water were taken to a lab to be tested, to gain some insight into what it'd done to Abe, the place was dusted for fingerprints, a sample of blood was taken from the doorframe, and any other evidence was gathered, including the letter.

_Professor Broom,_

_It has come to my attention that you have something that belongs to me. I want it back. If you care at all about the well being of the Ichtyo Sapien, you will return it to me without any complication, lest something unfortunate should befall it. I will contact you anon with further instructions._

_Your co-operation would be much appreciated by all parties involved._

The cold, completely impersonal tone of the letter sent chills down Dr. Broom's spine, the implications to the author's personality were chilling. _Something_ that belongs to me? You will return _it _to me? Dr. Broom knew something of Abe's past, and most of it wasn't very pretty. Before his discovery by a couple of wayward plumbers, Abe had been subjected to every test and experiment imaginable, and many that weren't, after which he was abandoned and left for whatever fate, in a secret wing of a hospital. The idea of those cold, inhuman people having the now-liberated Abe back in their custody sent a wave of determination through the professor's body. He wouldn't let that happen, not on his life.

Dr. Broom sighed and stood, folding the letter into his pocket and tucking his chair into his desk. He was in a very tight spot, and he had a feeling that before things got better, they were going to get much worse. He moved down the hallway, headed for the infirmary to check on the condition of the fallen agent.

When he entered the medical wing he was immediately aware of the many rhythmic beepings, wheezings, clicks, and gurgles. He was a knowledgeable man by any standard, but medical science was one thing he was almost completely ignorant of, and for the most part more then happy to stay that way. He assumed from the calm disposition of the two attendants on duty that the beeping and other noises were not a bad thing, though they seemed disconcerting nonetheless.

Dr. Broom moved to stand before the round, column-like water tank and peered in at the unconscious fish-man slowly bobbing up and down with the filtration system. He had some kind of plastic-like bandage wrapped around his torso, protecting and helping his burns to heal. He was also hooked up to a multitude of meaningless wires, all running up to the top of the tank, and attaching to another multitude of equally meaningless machines. Dr. Broom sighed. He hated not understanding things.

As he was pondering his unconscious subject, a doctor walked into the room and made his rounds, looking to all the results and print outs from all the machines, the expression on his coldly professional face never changing.

"Any change?" The professor asked quietly, hoping for some good news.

The doctor looked startled, as if he'd been unaware of his presence. To Dr. Broom's surprise, the doctor smiled.

"Yes actually, professor," he answered, practically beaming, "Abraham's brain activity seems to be increasing slightly. This could be a sign of the coma lessening. If his condition continues to improve at this rate, I expect he'll return to consciousness within a day or two, if we're lucky."

"And if we're not?" Dr. Broom had long ago learned not to leave anything important to luck.

The doctor's smile faltered slightly as he answered, "If we're not, the increase in brain activity could have been a misreading on the part of the computer, or just an anomaly of some kind. Very little else has changed, so it is possible of course that he will remain in the coma. We can hope for the best though."

Dr. Broom nodded his thanks to the doctor, who turned away to continue his work. Hope for the best. He griped his rosary, wrapped around his wrist, firmly for reassurance. There were greater forces then luck, Dr. Broom knew, if only they would intervene, then perhaps this situation wouldn't end up as impossibly bad as it had potential to be.


End file.
